Cruising Guide to Western Florida

Publisher: Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. 7th ed.
Publication Date: 2008

The author and his wife, Karen, have been sailing these waters, and others, for many years. They have published updated versions every four years since 1992. The format has certainly not altered a great deal in the 8 years since I consciously became aware of the publication and we published a review in 1998. Nevertheless, it is authoritative in both detail and breadth, giving a wealth of data both to aid navigation from Flamingo in the South round to Dog Island and the Western end of the Big Bend as well as shore-based information for easing the journey on sea and land. It is roughly 23 x 20 x 3.5 cm and the text fairly dense unalleviated by other than a few black and white photographs and small charts – sometimes with a lot of detail that make understanding of the larger scale entries to rivers and moorings rather difficult. It is not a pocket book but I suspect that you would want the backup of this by the nav. station. It comes with the warning, reiterated in our last review, that 5-6 feet are often seen as reasonable depths in these waters so some care is definitely needed to take advantage of what is acclaimed as a wonderful coast line to explore. – Mike Davey